The Advantages of Open Source Software

As unbelievable as it sounds, there are outfits and foundations around the world that actively build and syndicate software for no cost. The reason for them doing this depends on company to company, but the benefits to the customers is incredible.

A long time back in the 70’s, computer programmers and nerds would programme software and give it to other hobbyists for nothing to try and improve it. Then along came a man called Bill Gates who saw a money making opportunity in building software for computers and built Altair BASIC. Unfortunately for him, his product was also pirated around and he ended up writing a long letter pointing out why software should not be free (Google Bill Gates Open Letter).

In the past few years, the open source community has been acquiring a big slice in the software market, largely caused by developing countries who can’t afford the licensing fees of commercial software like Windows, MS Office, Dreamweaver and even Programming Languages.

There are open source versions of virtually everything, from e-commerce solutions to email clients. The open source concept has even hit the food and drink market with open source recipes for wine and beer now available on the Web. I am even typing this brief article on a piece of open source software called Open Office, a free substitute to MS Word, and it’s powered by Ubuntu, an open source alternative to Windows or Mac OS X.

When it comes to the Internet, there is a wide range of open source software around to power any kind of website. Web development companies such as Wordpress and Wikimedia Foundation release software free for businesses to use. What makes it incredibly effective is that open source customization can be undertaken by a number of companies around the globe.

Deciding on open source software to run your site provides a great base from which to commence, eg Wordpress is fantastic for probably any kind of website, but with a bit of Wordpress customization you can have it meet your exact specifications for a small percentage of the price of coding it from scratch.

Before you order your next computer programme, always research to see if there is an open source option on the market. Especially during these economic conditions, open source products may be one way you or your organization can drive down its costs.